ARC^® Fertility Blog

This month as we celebrate Pride, we also embrace diversity in families. Parents – and parents-to-be – come with all types of backgrounds – partnered, single, straight and gay/lesbian. And, today, the path for building your family is diverse, too, with access to a variety of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) including in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Everyone understands that healthy eggs and sperm are required to conceive, right?

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise when couples have trouble starting a family that male fertility plays a role – more often than most people realize. In fact, male factor infertility is the primary medical issue in about 25% of infertility cases and a contributing factor another 25% of the time.

The goal of Advocacy Day is to bring people together to communicate directly with policymakers and gain media attention to raise awareness of infertility as a disease – one affecting far more men and women than is widely known. Increasing awareness and laying out the facts on infertility is critical to understanding it as a medical condition with available treatment. Advocacy Day is also about working to secure greater resources, including funding for government program health benefits and iPart of Advocacy Day activities will also to continue work in opposing several “personhood” bills that have been introduced in Congress. Although the primary goal of such bills is to make abortion illegal, they would, ironically, negatively affect those trying to have a baby who must rely on ART to conceive and build their families. To learn more, read “What does personhood mean for IVF?”.

This year’s NIAW theme is “Listen Up” and it’s important to those who are coping with infertility. We can all probably do a better job of listening to others – everyone is busy and it’s easy to focus on whatever problem might be right of front of you. Many individuals and couples trying unsuccessfully to conceive often suffer in silence – and they shouldn’t have to. When someone listens, it’s support. You don’t have to understand all the clinical issues that might be causing the problem but understanding the emotional and financial toll can make a difference.

What Does Personhood Mean for IVF?

You may have heard that there are several “personhood” bills that have been introduced at the state and Federal level. You may be wondering what personhood is and how it might impact you, particularly if you are among the one in eight individuals that are affected by infertility. The primary goal of the personhood bills is to make abortion illegal, but, ironically, it would also have negative effects on those who are trying very hard to have a baby and have to rely on ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) to build their families.